SAJONIA, Clarisse Anne C.

February 18,2021
BSMA 1-1

“You’re good… for a girl”

Essay about Everyday Sexism on Workplace on Talking from 9 to 5

“A man does something, it's 'strategic'; a woman does the same thing, it's 'calculated.' A man
is allowed to 'react'; a woman can only 'overreact.' It goes on and on and on. A man does
something? 'Confident and bold.' A woman does it the same way, and she's smug.' A man
'stands up for himself'; a woman 'throws a temper tantrum.'”
(Taylor Swift, 2019)

From a young age, kids are taught to act a certain way. Through media, conditioning boys are taught to
be strong, brave, and masculine. On the other hand, girls are taught to be shy, quiet, and fragile. Even with the
games we play when we are young, dress-up and “bahay-bahayan” are for girls, and piko, tumbang- preso,
sipa are for boys.
For years, females have been seen as the weaker gender. Women are seen as individuals that are
fragile, vulnerable, and dependent. Women are seen with men always. Until a man comes along, they are
nothing. Media shows women in movies as sex objects, where it is seen that women at the workplace wear
revealing clothes and tries to seduce their boss.
These ingrained stereotypes are still relevant to today’s society, especially in corporations. As I’ve been
reading the book, I realized that even though we live in the 21st century and it might seem like the world is
progressing and there’s rising involvement of women in the workplace, the reality is quite different
From closing the gender pay gap to allowing all women to access education, there’s a lot we still need
to achieve in the fight for gender equality. While it’s important to work on fixing the big issues, it’s the small
and seemingly harmless instances of everyday sexism that are also working to maintain and normalize
inequality between men and women.
According to the MCC report, We Set the Tone: Eliminating Everyday Sexism, everyday sexism is
manifested in six distinct ways. But for this essay, I will just point out two ways.
The first one, insults masquerading as jokes, is the most frequently encountered form of everyday
sexism, experienced by women and men, and consists of sexist remarks or jokes, and insulting terms based on
gender.
 Some examples of this are, ‘Make sure you wear your low-cut top to meet with that client!’ or ‘You’ve
got to let her know who wears the pants around here!’ or You don’t look like you work in tech / You are too
pretty to be doing that. For men, these statements are just a joke or a “compliment”. As I am just a student
and I don’t have any experience relating to sexist comments in a workplace scenario but I had some encounter
when I was in 10th grade and I’m the representative for the statistics quiz bee, I won 2nd place and one of my
classmates congratulated me with “Grabe Clarisse! Natalo mo pa mga lalake” Like women being good in math
is a miracle and beating Men in their “own game” is quite the impossible.
These statements or jokes are harmful because stereotypes are portrayed and perpetuated, repeating
oversimplified, typically negative perceptions about a group. False and insulting remarks are introduced into
the current discourse via these jokes. The stereotype is remembered by everyone who has heard the joke.
They hold one group up as the standard by which the “other” should be judged and paint the “other” as falling
short. Compared to their more highly regarded colleagues, the "other" is seen as deficient and deviant.
The second way everyday sexism is manifested in the contemporary workplace is by devaluing women’s
views or voices. This includes men interrupting or talking over women, men over-explaining things as if
women have no knowledge of the issue (‘mansplaining’), and women feeling like their views are not heard or
supported until re-stated by a man. Imagine sitting in an important meeting when you have an exciting new
idea you want to share. You muster the courage to say it but when you get to the punchline, someone talks
over you. The point gets derailed, the moment is gone, and people forget you were even talking. This is often
overlooked because men are seen as leaders while women are listeners. Studies show that, in meetings, men
speak more often and dominate conversation. Their presence is seen as powerful and elite, while women are
seen as incompetent.
References
CBS Sunday Morning. (2019, August 25). Taylor Swift on “Lover” and haters [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDzhoofkRJI

Team, V. (2021, February 01). The challenges faced by women in the workplace. Retrieved February 19, 2021,

from https://blog.vantagecircle.com/women-in-the-workplace/

Male Champions of Change. (2017, October). We Set the Tone: Eliminating Everyday Sexism. Champions of

Change Coalition. https://championsofchangecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/We-Set-The-

Tone_Eliminating-Everyday-Sexism.pdf

Donaldson, D. (2017, October 25). Six ways everyday sexism creeps into workplaces. The Mandarin.

https://www.themandarin.com.au/85303-six-ways-everyday-sexism-creeps-workplaces/

Tannen, D. (2019, October 15). The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why. Retrieved February 19, 2021,

from https://hbr.org/1995/09/the-power-of-talk-who-gets-heard-and-why